Garden of Angels
by candiee.twirls
Summary: Even as Hazuki is dying, she is thinking about Alaude. Her love is unconditional. What about his?


"Hazuki."

A head of rustic copper waves twirled to face the voice. Upon seeing his face, a bright smile lit her expression.

"Alaude!" She beamed, looking up to face the Cloud Guardian.

"Hazuki, what are you doing?" Alaude's voice was deep, but it was music to Hazuki's ears.

"I'm just looking at the gardens," she chirped, motioning towards all the flowers behind her. The green stemmed beauties swayed as the wind winded through their leaves, as well as Hazuki's hair. The sun shone down on the two of them, illuminating Hazuki's white dress and Alaude's blonde-white hair.

"You have a letter and package waiting for you," he told her before turning away and walking back. Hazuki knew he meant for her to follow him, but she adored his annoyed expressions, so she just stood still, waiting for him to realize she wasn't following. With the expression she was hoping for, he turned around to see Hazuki hadn't moved from her position. With the corner of his mouth turned down into a slight frown and one eye slightly twitching, he called out to her. "Hazuki, come here." His tone indicated that he would do something to somebody if she didn't obey.

"It's just so beautiful here. I can wait to read a letter and open a package, there's only an hour or two left before sunset," she smiled, turning back and crouching to the flowers. Before her was a special section only she tended to, full of Forget-Ne-Not flowers, Peonies, Primroses, and roses. So many flowers meant so much to Hazuki. Forget-Me-Not flowers told her about true love, hope, remembrance, and memories. Peonies whispered compassion and happiness in marriage. Primroses were one of her favourites, saying 'I can't live without you', Hibiscus roses would tell her their beauty is delicate, pink roses would tell her to believe in perfect happiness, and red roses symbolized passion and love. Many other roses bloomed as well. On occasion, a bouquet of fifty red roses would show up on her bed. Most of the time, it was on Valentine's Day, the 14th of February, or her birthday, August 15th. Sometimes it would come on those special days that marked the death of many people Hazuki had held dear. The eighteenth of September happened to be one of those days. It had been so many years ago, and Hazuki had turned eighteen last month. She had learned that it was okay to cry, but the tears only came occasionally when she saw the roses and read one of the touching letters.

"Hazuki." There was that deep voice again. She could feel that he was standing behind her, and she knew that her instinct was correct when he reached down and put a hand onto her shoulder. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head so her cheek rested on the back of his hand.

"Yes, Alaude?" She whispered, breathing in a musky odor that only Alaude could conjure up to make Hazuki weak in the knees.

"Come." He whispered into her ear, his breath ticking her as she took his outstretched hand and pulled herself up into a standing position. Standing straight, she only came to about Alaude's shoulder, but Hazuki was just as skilled in weaponry. For the briefest moment, Hazuki felt as close to Alaude as she had ever been. Their bodies were mere centimeters away from each other, their fingers intertwined with each other. Alaude was first to let go, but the warming sensation that the feel of his fingers against Hazuki's lingered.

"Alaude, let's go," she whispered, her chest rising and falling in short breaths. Without a reply, Alaude began to stride back, glancing over his shoulder a mere once to make sure Hazuki followed this time. Surely, she was following his lead, but she couldn't look up to meet that strong gaze. His aqua-green orbs were what had first captured her affection for him, but as she grew closer to him, she had come to love everything about Alaude.

"Hazuki, this way," he whispered when she realized she had stopped short of hitting a wall. Turning her head, she realized he was leading her into a wing she had never visited before.

"Alaude, where are we going?"

"To your delivery," he replied as he opened a door, revealing a large canopy bed with posts carved of cherry wood, and silky looking black sheets. Draped across the canopy was a thin, almost transparent layer of a pink-ish white fabric. On the bed was a bouquet of those fifty roses and a letter in an ivory envelope set right in front of it. Side-stepping Alaude, Hazuki slowly walked towards the bed, pulling aside the fabric and sitting down onto the silk sheets.

"They're as beautiful as ever," she whispered, her voice as quiet as a breath. Her fingers smoothed themselves against the soft red petals, her nose inhaling the familiar aromatic scent of the roses. Slowly, she reached over towards the ivory envelope and brought it up to her nose, expecting the scent of the ocean to hit her like it usually did, but this time, the envelope smelled musky, just like…

_ Just like Alaude._

"Alaude?" She whispered, looking up to see that Alaude was no longer by the doorway, but sitting down behind her.

"Are you not going to read it?" He asked, his smoldering eyes on her.

She gulped and nodded, slowly opening the envelope as she usually does. Inside, a letter did not appear, but instead, photographs. All the photographs she had though she lost forever in a fire were piled up inside. Pictures of her family together, photos of her and her younger brother and sister, images of her older siblings as well as photos taken of Giotto and the others from the Vongola family fell from the envelope.

"Alaude… Did you..?" She choked out, her eyes burning with the threat of her tears spilling over.

He didn't respond, but all Hazuki did was stare at the photos. All the memories came rushing back. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but sink down and bury her face in her hands. That was when the choked sobs and tears came.

The sobbing wasn't that of a despaired child, but more of the real tears she had been holding back for years. Alaude made no effort to speak, but only wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to his chest. Hazuki realized this, but the tears didn't stop.

When she had finally stopped sobbing uncontrollably, the sun was already setting. She was curled up against Alaude's chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"A-Alaude, I'm sorry, you must have more important things to do," she whispered, her lips against his neck.

"Nonsense." He brought a hand up to her chin and tilted her face up to look him in the eyes. "Do you feel better, Hazuki?"

All she could do was nod. She had never been so close to Alaude in the time they've known each other, which spanned quite a long time. It was not the first time, though, that she had noticed his lips looked incredibly soft and full. His jaw line tempted her in ways she knew it shouldn't, and the look he gazed at her with made her feel as if she were melting inside. Her heart pounded erratically, but all the more so when he brought his lips down and kisses her forehead, her cheeks, and then, as soft and light as a feather, brushed their lips together in what must've been the sweetest first kiss in history, or at least to Hazuki. Her nerves were tingling like crazy as he pulled away.

"I love you," she whispered in the blur of the moment, but as she realized she had just confessed to him, she looked away, her cheeks pink. Alaude moved his hand from her chin to cup her cheek, sweetly stroking her cheek with his soft thumb. Hazuki leaned back and fell onto the soft, overly-stuffed pillows.

There was no response to her words, but instead, Alaude leaned over so he was looming on top of her, and then soft lips pressed against hers in a kiss. Alaude's fingers tangled in her silky locks, and Hazuki's arms were wrapped around Alaude, pulling him closer. Their lips parted and moved in unison, their tongues doing a sweet, moist waltz as they lay together.

Hazuki had never gotten the answer she had been looking for. Yes, they had stolen kisses In the midst of the night for many months now, but even then, he had never uttered a single word of love. His actions were sweet, caressing her body and his lips knowing exactly what Hazuki wanted, but he never whispered those three words.

Even as she lay there now, in her garden full of flowers, she couldn't hear his deep voice in the distance, calling to her. All she could feel was the piercing pain the bullet through her chest brought. Even though it hurt, she kept looking around for Alaude.

Alaude.

"_Alaude_," she breathed out in relief as she watched him stride over to her side. Even though the pain was unbearable, she lifted her arm to touch his cheek. Even then, as she felt the blood soaking through that beautiful silk garment he had given her, as she watched tears being held back in his eyes, all she could think was that he was beautiful.

He said nothing, only watched as the tears slipped out of her eyes and slowly down her pale, porcelain cheeks. He felt Hazuki's thumb gently stroke his cheek, watched as she choked out words, always those words, which made him feel special.

"_I love you." _

Nothing could change that, not even as she was dying. Alaude, in a vain attempt, tried as gently as possible to gather her into his arms, but seeing her wince in pain, he decided against it.

"Alaude, hug me," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself up, even though it caused her unbearable pain.

He buried his face into her hair, breathing in the scent of flowers that always seemed to follow her no matter where she went. Hazuki's emerald green eyes, which Alaude had never noticed before, had flecks of gold lining the edges. They were beautiful.

"Alaude, don't be sad," she whispered soothingly, stroking his hair and kissing his cheek. "It was time for me to go. I'm happy I got to spend so many nights with you, kissing you, having you in my arms. I loved you from the bottom of my messed up heart," she smiled then, that beautiful, pearly teethed smile that he loved to see. Her face was flushed red from the strength it took out of her to hug him like that. With all the strength she could muster up, she looking him in the eyes and pressed their lips together forcefully.

_I'm always with you. I'm thankful to have been loved like this, even if you never said you loved me. I know that you never truly did, but I'm thankful that I got to spend so much time with you. I'm so privileged to have been able to love you._

Alaude couldn't bear it. His heart was breaking. Hazuki was dying.

Everything was falling apart.

"I love you," she breathed out with a sad smile, before she closed her eyes and fell into what looked like a slumber. But Alaude knew better than that. She had passed.

"I love you," he whispered shamefully. He had never told her, but he truly did love her.

_Alaude,_

_Our time together has been like a wonderful dream. Holding you in my arms, kissing your soft lips, and just having you by my side was a miracle that God had graced me with. I can't believe I had found somebody like you to love, and for that, I am very thankful. If you're reading this now, then I'm no longer with you._

Alaude paused from continuing, as he noticed the tear-splattered ink on the pages. Hazuki had cried writing this to him.

_I had first noticed your eyes. You had, and still have, beautiful aqua-green eyes that I adore. As we grew closer, I began to love everything about you. The way you're so aloof, but when we're alone, you stutter quietly at times. Or how whenever you think I look sad, you bring me flowers to cheer me up. You were genuinely concerned about me, and I couldn't have asked for anything more._

_The nights we had together, sleeping in each other's arms, never escalated to anything else, but that was because, to me, holding you and kissing you was enough. Even during the day, just being with you was enough to calm me down. When you kissed me, all I could feel was sheer bliss, feeling your lips against mine._

_I'm always with you. I'm thankful to have been loved like this, even if you never said you loved me. I know that you never truly did, but I'm thankful that I got to spend so much time with you. I'm so privileged to have been able to love you. You were like my personal angel._

_Alaude, please move on from my death._

_I love you, and I'm letting you go._

_Hazuki._

The pages following were pictures of Alaude and Hazuki together, and in a larger package was a portrait Hazuki had painted of them together. Every detail was perfect, and she looked so real, Alaude found himself caressing it with his finger tips. It hurt so much, knowing that she was so close to him a mere night ago, and now, she had been taken away from him. It was just so cruel. And Hazuki shouldn't be calling him her angel. Hazuki was Alaude's angel.

Reaching into his pocket, Alaude pulled out a silver ring. The band was white gold, as was the rest of the ring, except where the diamond was placed, the white gold was formed into petals, protruding upwards into a rose. In the center was the diamond, with many smaller diamonds carefully placed into the petals.

He had planned on giving it to her today, in her garden.

How ironic.

* * *

**A/N: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any way. w

Only Hazuki and this shitass plot.


End file.
